MovieChat Forums > Flight (1929) Discussion > Use of word 'Damn'

Use of word 'Damn'

posted 17 years ago by cowgoesmoo
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It was supposed to be scandalous when Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind" said "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." In this movie, a full 10 years earlier, there is an action scene with a company of Marines surrounded by Nicaraguan bandits. They're running low on ammo and in danger of being overrun. One of the Marines wonders what will happen to them and another says "You know damn well what will happen."

Was the use of "damn" considered scandalous then, too? Or is it simply that GWTW had a much wider audience?

[–] jtyroler 15 years ago

Damn was used in quite a few silents, but there were the Hayes Codes in 1934 that supposedly put an end to quite a few things that were being done prior to the codes: language, partial nudity, etc.